Summary

Game name (and type): 'Brandy' (chasing game)
Alternative types: ball games, running games, counting-out games

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'Brandy' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by George Michailovs, a student at Double View Government Primary School, on 25 March 1955. Michailovs describes 'Brandy' as a game requiring a soft rubber ball, a large outdoor space, and any number of children aged over eight years. He writes that numerous methods can be used to determine the chaser, 'he'. Michailovs describes his preferred method, which involves players standing in a circle with their toes pointing inwards. A ball is dropped into the centre. The child touched by the ball is pronounced 'he man'. 'He man' must chase the other players, throwing the ball at them as they run. Captured players must assist 'he' to chase the remaining children. Once 'he man' has captured one child, he is no longer able to run with the ball.

One of a collection of letters describing a children's games written to children's Folklorist Dorothy Howard between 1954 and 1955. Dr Howard came to Australia in 1954-55 as an American Fulbright scholar to study Australian children's folklore. She travelled across Australia for 10 months collecting children's playground rhymes, games, play artefacts, etc. This letter, together with the other original fieldwork collected by Dr Howard during this period, is preserved in the Dorothy Howard Collection manuscript files, part of the Australian Children's Folklore Collection (ACFC), Archive Series 3. The ACFC is an extensive collection documenting children's folklore and related research.

Physical Description

Handwritten game description in blue pencil on lined paper. Comprises two pages featuring borders ruled in red pencil; text printed on one side only.

More Information